Microscopes, Slides and Lenses For Sale

I suppose I don’t mean ‘marking’ children’s behaviour literally – I’m visualising children wandering around with ticks and crosses all over them – and that isn’t quite what I mean. There’s probably something written somewhere about not being allowed to write all over the kids and I suppose they’ve got a point!

Think about what you are doing when you mark children’s work. You’re letting them know when they’ve got something right. You’re telling them that you’re pleased with them and acknowledging the efforts made in class and also that they seem to have gained an understanding of the subject. You’re also letting them know what they’ve got to achieve to move on to a higher level and have a greater level of understanding of a subject.

Children also have to know when they’ve got something wrong in their work books. This can be due to making a mistake or misunderstanding an instruction. It’s also the case that at times the child hasn’t made enough effort to listen or follow the instructions. Marking work ensures there has been full understanding of the subject and that there aren’t any misconceptions about methods or subject matter. So if you feel, when you mark a child’s work, that they haven’t understood then you can give extra instruction, lower the level of work or give extra practise.

Needless to say I’m not one of these people who thinks you shouldn’t mark work that’s incorrect. If something’s wrong it can be put right – an important lesson in life. What I don’t do is mark a full page with crosses if I see a child just ‘hasn’t got it’. But it still has to be done over again once the child understands. I always say to the children that I’m fine with them not understanding something – that could be down to me not explaining it very well or it’s just an area of work they find difficult. But don’t expect me to be too happy with them if they’re just not making enough effort. That’s not acceptable.

And this has what to do with the management of children’s behaviour in class? Quite simply, they have to be told when their behaviour is right and also when it’s wrong. Children don’t automatically know what you expect – it has to be explained clearly and has to be reiterated often to reinforce your expectations. Children will tell you they need to ‘be good’, but maybe won’t be able to explain what this ‘being good’ means. The difference between maths and science is that behaviour isn’t a stand alone subject – it’s ‘taught’ minute to minute, all the time you’re in contact with the children. And you should always ‘mark’ the children’s behaviour, good and not so good.

Effective behaviour management isn’t difficult. When you’re getting the techniques right managing behaviour is really quite easy – but you have to know what to do from the outset to ensure high standards of behaviour in your classroom and school. Nothing else should do – it’s too easy to lower expectations of behaviour to those demanded by some of the children – but, as seen in so many schools that’s the path to chaos. Remember that it’s the adults who should set the behaviour standards, not the children! Behaviour Bible tells you how…

Liz Marsden is a behaviour management specialist who deals daily with potentially extreme behaviour. She trains teachers, trainee teachers and teaching assistants, increasing their expertise in teaching management. Liz’s widely recommended book, Behaviour Bible offers invaluable advice. Read about her daily experiences in mainstream teachings and gain further advice and insight into Liz’s work.

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